BLOOMINGTON – A year ago, everything seemed to be pointing in the right direction for IU football's Nile Sykes.

The defensive end was coming off a sophomore season in which he appeared in all 13 games for the Hoosiers, including a start against Purdue. He made 18 tackles, had five sacks and a fumble recovery.

He calls the summer of 2017 "one of the best summers I had” from a workout perspective. Then, on the last day of workouts, he suffered a season-ending injury. Just like that, everything screeched to a halt.

“It was tough at first,” Sykes said of the injury, a torn pectoral muscle. “I was gearing up to have a great season production wise. To have that taken away so suddenly was tough. My teammates and coaches were supportive, also my family and friends. Now I’m back.”

He enters his redshirt junior season as one of the defensive line’s imposing figures, but knows he still has plenty of room for growth — specifically from a leadership standpoint for a defense that lost considerable amounts of talent from last season.

Nile Sykes (35) was the Hoosiers' top returning sack man from the defensive line for 2017 before a preseason injury ended his year before it even started.(Photo: Michael Hickey, Getty Images)

“Everybody needs to step up, including me,” he said. “I wasn’t maybe in a leadership role in the past, but I need to step up and bring the other guys along. I like to do things by example. It depends on the situation. I’m better one-on-one. I think I need to be more of a team leader. I need to vocalize more to the whole group.”

While he hasn’t played in a competitive game since the Foster Farms Bowl at the end of 2016, his style of play that he calls “instinctive” hasn’t gone away.

“I like to react off what other people do,” he said. “I feed off the offensive linemen and how I can counter their moves.”

Defensive line coach Mark Hagen recognizes Sykes’ ability to rush the quarterback, but says he and coach Tom Allen are challenging the Oak Park, Ill. product to be a more well-rounded player that can be a threat on every down.

“Two years ago, he was known for being a pass rusher. He wasn’t nearly as solid as you’d want him to be on first or second down against the run,” Hagen said. “That’s the challenge of making himself into a complete football player, is being an every-down guy — don’t just be known as a pass rusher, but do a great job on first and second down and then pin your ears back and get the quarterback on third down.”

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IU football director of athletic performance David Ballou speaks with reporters about the Hoosiers' approach to strength and conditioning.
Zach Osterman, zach.osterman@indystar.com

Sykes credits performance coaches David Ballou and Matt Rhea for his improvement over the offseason with their revamped conditioning program. His confidence has increased because he has seen tangible results during his workouts.

“A lot of guys like the science and technology. I like the style of workouts and speed work that they brought into the program,” Sykes said. “I think guys bought in because they were seeing results from it. With the technology, you can see what your numbers were … power outputs, how fast you can move it, all sorts of things where you can see drastic changes.”

Sykes says he enters the season “bigger, faster and stronger.” And he also comes in with a new mindset.